6 days left. If no deal is done or imminent by January 10th Bettman will announce the cancellation of the remainder of the season. Considering how fucking minor the differences are it makes no sense for it to reach that point. Its mind numbing how retarded this has gotten now with the NHL changing the HHR rules and trying to hide it (or Fehr just never mentioning it to the union until yesterday).

Not that it really matters at this point but more IIHF joke officiating. Griffin Reinhart got 4 games (the harshest suspension in World Junior tournament history) for his high sticking penalty vs USA. It was a 2 minute penalty on the ice, the other player wasn't injured and it certainly wasn't a malicious, intent to injure type play. That penalty happens almost every game in every league and no one thinks anything of it. What drove them to suspend him? Really? He didn't fucking hack the dude in the head like McSorley. It doesn't have any impact on anything really but that's just pathetic disciplinary actions from the IIHF. I honestly don't even want to watch next years tournament if the refing is going to be this god awful. The quality of play is awesome but when they're handing out 4 game suspensions for no good reason it's just dumb.

So now that the PA held back on disclaiming in order to get a deal done, Gary's response was to change key parts of HRR compliance penalties... I give up.

They held another vote and will do another tally and determine whether to proceed with a disclaimer of interest if the league fails to get a deal done by the 11th. All I know is that it will be the axe that beheads the league and crushes the small franchises for good. Bettman WILL lose his job if the players file for a disclaimer of interest, because it took 4 months for the fucking owners to actually start negotiating and that is all the leverage the players need to win a court battle against their respective owners.

I'm not on Canada's side with that suspension. I'm confused as to what Reinhart was doing... Did he get confused and think the puck 3 feet in the air and near the American players head? Baffling.

4 games is a bit much, but stupidity like that should be punished.

The severe inconsistency is just annoying. Refs on the ice call it 2 minutes but their discipline committee or whatever they use thinks it warrants the longest suspension in tournament history. That's quite the swing for something that didn't even cause an injury. I don't know what they would have done if the American player had gotten injured on the play, maybe burn the Reinhart family down? Jesus. It was a stupid thing to do but it wasn't vicious at all.

edit:
USA wins gold, Canada loses bronze. That's a shame, I didn't get to see the games but from the looks of it, this years junior team was a massive disappointment. They have the best team in the tournament by a long shot but they played like they were worse than Germany. I'll probably end up watching a rerun because the score indicates that it was quite entertaining. Looks like they were let down by goal tending once again but they just didn't play as a team. Their defense was really strong especially with Reilly (I'd be excited if I was a Toronto fan, when he came to Calgary for their WHL game he was incredible), Reinhart, Hamilton (although I think he's a selfish player), and Ryan Murphy. So many first round draft picks and RNH too.

Oh well, I don't know about anyone else, but I loved having quality hockey back. Even if it was just for a short time, I watched a bunch of good games and it really just has me wanting the NHL back so badly. Tried to watch KHL, SEL, and other stuff but it's not the same. The quality of play just isn't there. Future of the NHL is definitely looking great after seeing this tournament. Tons of really strong defensemen on the US squad that'll be fun to see in the big leagues. Cheers to the billionaires and millionaires for wanting a million more dollars in their bank accounts, def worth fucking true hockey fans out of the sport they love. Take advantage of us because you know we'll be back.

Sounds like we are about at the end of the line. The NHLPA will officially get permission to disclaim at 6pm tonight. If no deal is close they could file the disclaimer tonight effectively blowing up the union and the season. Rumor has it things are going well right now, but if there is any sort of setback the feeling is that it is pretty much over. Either way, sounds like this moves one way or the other within the next 24 hours.

Sounds like we are about at the end of the line. The NHLPA will officially get permission to disclaim at 6pm tonight. If no deal is close they could file the disclaimer tonight effectively blowing up the union and the season. Rumor has it things are going well right now, but if there is any sort of setback the feeling is that it is pretty much over. Either way, sounds like this moves one way or the other within the next 24 hours.

Oh ya, and MURICA!!!

The union doesn't have to file a disclaimer of interest right now, they are just maintaining the threat as a method of keeping the league at the bargaining table in order to salvage a season. If the league walks away from the table citing irreconcilable differences that won't be mended through these discussions, the players will file the disclaimer of the interest and all the owners will find themselves facing very difficult court battles.

---------- Post added 2013-01-05 at 05:26 PM ----------

Originally Posted by draynay

yea its nice having all these goalies, I remember once Mike Richter was getting old, the next best guy was Mike Dunham, and then Rick DiPietro after that, I shudder to think of it

now we see a long line of goalies developing and performing very well at all levels

Too bad Sparks didn't get to play in the actual tournament, but compared to Gibson, he is pretty far behind in his development. Trust me, he is a Leafs prospect and plays for my local OHL team, he has some really bad games and needs to get better goaltending coaching and work on his game while he is still really young, otherwise he isn't even going to crack the Marlies in a couple of years. Hopefully once the season is over he can train with the coaches at the ECHL level and work his way up the depth ladder in the Leafs organization. With the way Scrivens and Rynnas are playing for the Marlies, Sparks is the bottom of the depth chart for goalies when Owuya is the starting goalie for their ECHL affiliate.